Mayor who pushed for refugee resettlement loses election

Rutland mayor Chris Louras, who had openly pushed for the resettlement of 100 refugees in his small city in Vermont, lost his re-election to city alderman David Allaire.

Allaire has been a critic of refugee resettlement in the past, according to The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Louras allegedly reached out to refugee officials in 2015 in hopes of resettling 100 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Rutland without consulting the Board of Aldermen.

Defeated Mayor Chris Louras

“Rutland has been addressing our issues, and, having turned our community around, this is the next logical step — to embrace new Americans and enjoy the economic and cultural benefits that level of diversity will provide,” Louras told local publication Seven Days last June.

“There’s not a successful, vibrant, and growing community in the country that hasn’t embraced new Americans.”

Allaire has not said he is “anti-refugee” but, rather, that he simply did not support Louras going behind the backs of board members.

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